Ted Kennedy’s widow to accept Irish peace prize

The widow of the late US senator, Ted Kennedy will travel to Ireland to accept the Tipperary International Peace Prize on his behalf next month.

Ted Kennedy’s sister, Jean Kennedy Smith (82) will also be honored with an award. She will join, his widow, Vicki Kennedy (56) on the trip.

The Kennedy siblings are being honored for their “lifelong commitment to peace both in Northern Ireland and on the great world stage,” said representatives of the Tipperary Peace Convention.

The late Senator will be honored posthumously for his “courageous leadership for peace human rights and nuclear disarmament.”

He will also be remembered for his involvement in the Irish peace process leading up to the Good Friday Agreement as well as his international work in the U.S, the Middle East, South Africa and South America.

Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith will be presented with the Peace Award for her own role in the Irish peace process.

“She played a key role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. She earned the respect of officials from North and South alike for her impressive diplomacy and was seen as being a ‘crucial catalyst’ at a moment in Irish history when peace hung in the balance,” said the organizer of the awards.

Other figures who have been honored with this award over the years are Bob Geldof, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and the late Benazir Bhutto.

Vicki Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith will travel to Ballykisteen, Tipperary on June 19 to receive the awards. While travelling in Ireland they also plan to visit, the ancestral home of the Kennedy family, Dunganstown, Co. Wexford.